Building Rio

Yesterday Cine Chat discussed the documentary Chronicle of the Demolition (Crônica
da demolição) by Eduardo
Ades. The film focuses on the recent urbanisation of Rio de Janeiro and the
consequential reorganisation of the city space, protagonising the no-longer
existing Palácio Monroe. The Palace, built in the twentieth century in Cinelândia
in the heart of the city, was once the State Senate House. Recently demolished,
the ruin has haunted the recent debates surrounding Rio’s architectural
patrimony.

Journalist Cristina Grillo, who led the conversation, got straight to the
point: why was the Palace destroyed? Alex Nicolaeff, one of the architects
interviewed, replied just as incisively: “The main reason? Hard cash. That spot is worth a lot of
money. Don’t believe any of that rubbish you might have heard about the metro,
because the original plans for the new line deliberately avoided the building.”
Nicolaeff continued: “Architecture
is a social art. Every new reform, every renovation, ends up costing a
fair amount of money. That building was the fruit of society’s hard-earned
money, but there was a convergence of social, political and economic factors
that led to its being demolished. The masses were no longer interested in the Palace.”

Architect Margareth da Silva Pereira highlighted that urban changes in
the city began when Rio lost its status as the capital of Brazil, and the
political centre of the city started being broken up. But according to da Silva Pereira,
the new developments were not just physical, but also social. Previously, Rio
had been a centre of activity, with public squares and streets buzzing with hustle
and bustle. When Rio lost its political relevance there was a corresponding
emptying of these areas, both of people and buildings. “It’s difficult for me,
as a teacher, to see pupils and citizens alike trying to comprehend the city
when they are so distanced from it”, da Silva Pereira added.

Eduardo Ades, who wrote, directed and produced the film, revealed that
his research took over one year. Ades let slip that he spent hours in the national
library, in the national film library and various other locations that house
important archives. Without this
well-preserved information the project would never have been possible, he said.

The
cinema was, unsurprisingly, filled with architects and architecture
enthusiasts. Aside from contributing animatedly and illuminatingly to the
debate, these figures reminded everyone of the importance of this work as a
wake-up call. The film recalls the fact that defending our public spaces is a
duty, in the face of massive globalisation and continual urbanisation that
threaten to wash away the identities of our cities.

Pereira,
enthused and relieved to see such a passionate response from the audience,
said: “I just want to say I’m grateful that this new generation is still actively
thinking about our cities, and that this is a subject being projected onto our
cinema screens.”

The
conversation continues outside the cinema (outside the box?) in Praça Mahatma
Gandhi, where the film crew have drawn contours on the floor marking where the
building once stood. The installation will remain open until tomorrow.